- Astiba Kebong’o examines how poor leadership can quietly push committed teachers into professional disengagement.
- He argues that fairness, communication, recognition and trust are essential to sustaining teacher motivation.
- School leaders must recognise warning signs before disengagement begins affecting learners and the wider institution
A school does not always lose a good teacher when that teacher resigns or transfers. Sometimes, it loses them long before they leave.
The teacher continues to report to work, teach lessons, mark books and attend meetings. On the surface, everything appears normal. Yet something has changed. The enthusiasm has faded. Initiative has diminished. The teacher who once volunteered for school activities now keeps quiet. The colleague who readily supported struggling learners now does only what is required.
The teacher is physically present, but professionally disengaged.
This is one of the less visible consequences of poor institutional leadership—and one that school administrators should take seriously.
A principal’s influence extends far beyond timetables, meetings, discipline and administrative decisions. Leadership shapes the culture in which teachers work.
Peter Drucker, one of the most influential management thinkers, argued that effective management involves making people’s strengths productive. This principle has particular relevance in education. A principal should not merely identify weaknesses; they should recognise professional strengths and create opportunities for those strengths to benefit the institution.
Communication is one of the most powerful instruments at a principal’s disposal. A leader who listens, communicates respectfully and explains decisions builds confidence. Conversely, dismissive communication, public humiliation and failure to consult can gradually erode professional trust.
Teachers do not expect every suggestion to be accepted. They expect to be heard.
The biblical wisdom, “A gentle answer turns away wrath” (Proverbs 15:1), offers a timeless lesson in communication. A principal should be able to disagree without belittling, correct without humiliating and make difficult decisions without creating unnecessary antagonism.
Leadership is not only about what is communicated; it is also about how people feel after the communication.
Recognise ability before it walks away
Every staffroom contains a reservoir of professional talent.
One teacher may excel in curriculum implementation, another in mentorship, sports, music, journalism, counselling, technology or classroom practice. Others possess organisational abilities that quietly keep school programmes functioning.
When such abilities are consistently overlooked, motivation can decline.
Recognition does not necessarily mean promotion or financial reward. Sometimes it is an acknowledgement of good work, an opportunity to lead a programme or the confidence to entrust a capable teacher with responsibility.
The biblical admonition in Philippians 2:3 is equally instructive: “In humility value others above yourselves.”
A principal should therefore ask not only, “What is this teacher failing to do?” but also, “What can this teacher do exceptionally well, and have I created room for that ability?”
Professional competence should matter more than proximity to power.
Gossip is leadership poison
Few things damage a staffroom faster than gossip.
When teachers suspect that their private conversations, professional weaknesses or personal circumstances may become subjects of discussion, trust diminishes. People become guarded, communication suffers and informal alliances begin to emerge.
Eventually, a professional staff can become divided into camps.
Stephen Covey’s work on trust and effective relationships offers an important lesson here: trust is not a decorative quality in an organisation; it is an essential foundation for collaboration.
The Bible similarly warns, “A gossip betrays a confidence” (Proverbs 11:13).
A principal cannot demand confidentiality and professionalism from teachers while failing to model those same values.
Confidentiality is not merely courtesy. In a professional institution, it is part of ethical leadership.
Fairness is the foundation of trust
Teachers can accept difficult decisions when they believe the process has been fair.
What becomes corrosive is perceived favouritism: one teacher being treated differently from another, opportunities repeatedly going to the same individuals, or similar cases receiving different responses.
Fairness does not mean treating everyone identically. It means applying principles consistently, listening to relevant perspectives and basing decisions on evidence rather than personal relationships.
Mary Parker Follett, a pioneer of modern management thought, viewed conflict as something that could be handled constructively through cooperation rather than domination. Her ideas remain relevant in schools, where professional disagreement should be used to find solutions rather than create enemies.
The Golden Rule provides a simple test for administrators: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Luke 6:31).
Before making a difficult decision, a leader should ask:
Would I regard this process as fair if I were the person receiving the decision?
That simple question can prevent many avoidable conflicts.
Indecision also has consequences
Leadership requires consultation, but consultation should not become an excuse for perpetual delay.
When teachers raise concerns and receive no timely response, uncertainty grows. Uncertainty breeds speculation, and speculation can become resentment.
Not every matter requires an immediate decision. Some require investigation, consultation and careful consideration. But leaders should communicate what is being done and provide reasonable timelines.
John Kotter’s work on organisational change emphasises the importance of moving from recognising problems to purposeful action. Schools, too, require leaders who can listen, analyse, decide and act.
A delayed decision is sometimes a decision in itself—and it can carry a cost.
Integrity must be demonstrated
Perhaps the greatest test of leadership is consistency between what a leader says and what a leader does.
A principal may speak passionately about integrity, accountability, punctuality and professionalism. But teachers are more likely to be influenced by what they observe than by what they hear.
If punctuality is expected, the leader should model it.
If accountability is demanded, the leader should accept responsibility for mistakes.
If respect is required, it should be demonstrated at every level.
If integrity is preached, it must be practised even when doing so is inconvenient.
The Apostle Paul’s instruction to Timothy remains relevant: “Set an example … in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).
Leadership by example gives credibility to every policy, speech and instruction.
Do not create an inner circle
Every principal needs trusted colleagues. However, there is a difference between having trusted advisers and creating an inner circle.
When a principal repeatedly relies on the same group of teachers, others may conclude that professional competence is secondary to personal loyalty.
The result is predictable: camps emerge.
Douglas McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y challenged leaders to examine the assumptions they make about workers. A leader who assumes people are inherently unwilling to work tends towards control and surveillance. A leader who believes people can be responsible and self-directed is more likely to create conditions that encourage initiative and participation.
Schools should cultivate the latter approach.
A school should not have “the principal’s people” and “the rest.” It should have one professional team serving one institution and one group of learners.
Trust should be earned through professionalism, competence and integrity—not proximity to power.
When the staffroom divides, learners pay the price
Staffroom conflict is not confined to adults.
When teachers stop trusting one another, collaboration suffers. Departments become isolated, professional learning weakens and school programmes lose collective ownership.
The effects may eventually reach learners through inconsistent expectations, weakened mentorship and declining commitment to academic and co-curricular programmes.
This can contribute to what may be described as the “teach-and-go-home” syndrome.
There is nothing inherently wrong with teachers maintaining healthy boundaries between professional and personal life. The concern arises when disengagement becomes a response to persistent frustration, perceived unfairness or loss of confidence in leadership.
A teacher who consistently does only the minimum may not simply be unwilling to work.
Sometimes, the institution must ask:
What happened to the motivation that was once there?
A school cannot afford to squander the professional capacity of its teachers through poor leadership.
Teachers, too, have a responsibility
Leadership alone cannot create a healthy staffroom.
Teachers must also respect professional differences and recognise one another’s strengths. Not every colleague will share the same opinions, personality or teaching approach. Professional disagreement is inevitable; personal hostility is not.
Teachers should resist gossip, give credit where it is deserved, support colleagues who need assistance and avoid undermining one another.
Romans 12:10 offers a powerful principle: “Honour one another above yourselves.”
A colleague’s competence should be an institutional asset, not a personal threat.
The strongest professional teams are not those without disagreements. They are those that know how to manage disagreements constructively.
What should principals do differently?
School leaders can begin rebuilding trust through practical actions:
Listen deliberately. Give teachers genuine opportunities to express concerns and ideas.
Communicate clearly. Explain decisions and avoid unnecessary secrecy.
Recognise competence. Identify strengths and give teachers meaningful responsibilities.
Practise procedural fairness. Handle comparable cases consistently.
Address conflict early. Do not allow small disagreements to become entrenched divisions.
Avoid gossip. Protect professional confidentiality.
Broaden participation. Give different teachers opportunities to contribute.
Develop people. A leader’s success should include the professional growth of those they lead.
Reflect on leadership practice. Ask whether the school culture encourages trust, collaboration and professional initiative.
Lead by example. Institutional culture often mirrors leadership behaviour.
Perhaps most importantly, leaders should check on the quiet teacher.
The teacher who has stopped complaining may not necessarily be satisfied.
They may simply have stopped believing that anyone will listen.
The role of the Board of Management
The Board of Management has an important governance and oversight role in supporting a healthy school environment.
Where staff relations deteriorate, the BOM should encourage appropriate dialogue, accountability and professional conflict resolution while respecting the distinct responsibilities of school management.
It should not become another faction in an already divided institution, nor should it unnecessarily interfere with professional matters that belong to school administration.
Its broader responsibility is to safeguard good governance and keep the interests of learners and the institution at the centre.
Where serious or persistent leadership challenges arise, the BOM should be willing to ask difficult questions and seek appropriate guidance through established education structures.
Proverbs 15:22 reminds us: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
A strong BOM should therefore provide constructive oversight—not destructive interference.
Good governance is ultimately about protecting the institution, not personalities.
The principal sets the institutional tone
Every school has a culture, and leadership plays a significant role in shaping it.
A fair principal encourages fairness.
A listening principal creates space for dialogue.
A respectful principal cultivates respect.
A leader who relies excessively on favourites risks creating factions.
A leader who models accountability makes accountability easier to demand from others.
Mary Parker Follett’s philosophy of collaborative leadership reminds us that organisations work best when people are brought into a shared purpose rather than merely controlled from above.
This is especially important in schools, where professionals cannot be reduced to instructions and supervision.
A principal may have formal authority, but authority alone cannot create professional commitment.
Commitment must be earned, and trust is its foundation.
The biblical model of leadership
The Bible presents leadership as responsibility rather than domination.
Peter’s instruction to leaders is particularly powerful: “Not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
The principal is entrusted with responsibility; the principal does not own the people they lead.
Teachers are professionals, colleagues and partners in the education of learners.
When leadership becomes excessively authoritarian, people may comply outwardly while disengaging inwardly. When leadership is fair, servant-oriented and trustworthy, people are more likely to develop ownership of the institution.
Micah 6:8 provides an enduring moral compass:
“Act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Justice, mercy and humility are not weaknesses in leadership.
They are strengths.
Before good teachers disengage, look inward
The most important warning sign may not be the teacher who complains loudly.
It may be the teacher who has stopped speaking altogether.
The teacher who once brought ideas now says nothing.
The teacher who once volunteered now waits to be instructed.
The teacher who once mentored struggling learners now limits their involvement.
The teacher may not have become difficult.
They may have become discouraged.
That distinction matters.
Before labelling disengaged teachers as uncommitted, administrators should ask themselves some searching questions:
Do our teachers feel valued?
Do they trust the leadership?
Are decisions perceived to be fair?
Can staff disagree professionally without fear?
Are individual abilities recognised and utilised?
Does leadership practise the integrity it expects from others?
These are not signs of weak leadership. They are questions of reflective leadership.
Lead people, not just systems
A school is more than classrooms, examination results, buildings and administrative structures. It is a community of professionals entrusted with shaping the next generation.
That responsibility demands leadership that is ethical, inclusive, fair and purposeful.
The insights of Drucker, Follett, McGregor, Covey and Kotter converge on a fundamental principle: people are central to organisational success.
Schools therefore cannot afford leadership that merely manages compliance while neglecting relationships.
A principal should not merely manage teachers; a principal should build professional capacity, cultivate trust and create conditions in which teachers can perform at their best.
The real measure of leadership is not how many people comply when the principal is present.
It is how willingly people contribute when the principal is absent.
Good teachers should not have to withdraw before their value is recognised.
Principals must notice the quiet changes in their staffrooms. They must listen before frustration becomes resentment, address conflict before it becomes factionalism and recognise talent before it becomes disengagement.
Because when a good teacher stops caring, a school loses more than an employee.
It loses experience, creativity, mentorship, institutional memory and, ultimately, part of its capacity to transform learners’ lives.
Perhaps the final test of educational leadership is found in the simple biblical principle of Luke 6:31:
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
For every school leader, that principle is worth carrying into the office, the staffroom, the classroom and every decision made in the name of the institution.
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Lead fairly. Communicate wisely. Build trust. Recognise ability. Practise integrity. Serve rather than dominate. And above all, lead by example.
Astiba Kebong’o
Email: jackiekebongo@gmail.com
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